Alternative Views of Bathsheba in the David and Bathsheba Story

Review of the previous post

The previous post, post number 7 of 23, was the second post in a series of five posts discussing Bathsheba’s “Victimhood”.

Preview of this post

This post, post number 8 of 23, is the third post in a series of five posts discussing Bathsheba’s “Victimhood” and discusses if surrender was an option for Bathsheba.

Surrender

It might appear from the text that Bathsheba surrendered to David. Given the differences in their power and positions, surrender may have been a viable option. In such a case, if Bathsheba surrendered to David because he was the king and she was only the wife of a soldier, could it be said that David actually raped Bathsheba? While there is no mention in the text about Bathsheba’s age, it is possible that she was a young girl, thereby making her surrender to David even closer to rape. If Bathsheba was raped, or surrendered, she truly was a victim. But the evidence seems to point elsewhere.

Bathsheba’s surrender or rape does not seem to fit the text because it is related that the couple waited to lie together until after she “purified herself after her period” (2 Samuel 11:4). This seems to indicate that Bathsheba was a willing participant because she had time to resist, flee or take other action to avoid the situation, and she did not.

For example, Bathsheba could have gone to Nathan with her story before she slept with David^[1]. Nathan was a very powerful prophet and had David’s ear. Nathan absolutely did not approve of David’s dalliance with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 12) and would have put a stop to it the moment he found out. Bathsheba did not go to Nathan. Bathsheba could have made David’s advances public. It is likely that David’s political rivals would have made it so uncomfortable for David that he would have backed off and repented. Bathsheba kept quiet. In some scenarios, Bathsheba could have gone to her husband or to his superiors in the army and they would have put a stop to it. Bathsheba did not. Bathsheba had time to take any of these actions because she and David waited until after her period.

Furthermore, later events do not depict Bathsheba as the type who would surrender. For example, in 1 Kings 1:15, Bathsheba actually approaches the King without being bidden to do so. This is an act of one who takes proactive steps, not the act of one who would surrender. The text with regard to this episode seems to indicate that Bathsheba and Nathan conspired together to place Bathsheba’s son, Solomon, on the throne instead of David’s other son, Adonijah. Again, this is not the act of a compliant and willing victim.

The episode related in 1 Kings also seems to indicate that Bathsheba was close enough to Nathan to conspire with him which would support the conclusion presented above with respect to her going to Nathan to prevent her surrender to David, that she could have gone to him to prevent this act, but chose not to.

Based on the apparent bias in the Bible against surrender as well as the events related in the story, it seems reasonable to conclude that Bathsheba did not surrender to David, nor was she raped. Under this conclusion, Bathsheba was not a submissive victim.

Preview of the next post

The next post, post number 9 of 23 is the fourth post in the series of five posts discussing Bathsheba’s “Victimhood”.

^[1] Even if the view is adopted that Nathan would not have had any contact with Bathsheba while she was menstruating, Bathsheba could have waited until she was “pure” and spoken to Nathan before notifying David that she was finished “purifying” herself (2 Samuel 11:4).